Destry and Justice

My nephews came over for a visit today so their daddy could join Mike on a trip to see their dad and goto a VIKINGS game tomorrow. Their mommy was at work all day, so Paige said she would keep them. How sweet is she??? They are such handsome, happy little boys!!!!!

Dad's New Packers Jersey

Dad got a Packers jersey from Tommy and I!!!

Littlest drinkin from grandma's hose

I've been a little bit busy....

My oldest has said to me "Are you ever going to blog again? We have had about 49 events, you know."
Brandi has said she is going to remove me from her blog list, so here I am.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at home with my dad joining us. Mike and I cooked together and we ate at about 12:30. I loved eating at lunchtime this year. After dinner, Dad and Mike watched football, the kids played and/or napped, and I washed every dish and pan in the house by hand. My hands were so dry!! It was awesome to have it all done though.

Mike and I got up at 4am on Black Friday and hit Wal-Mart, but decided not to go to the "city" to shop all day. Another wise decision. I then napped for a while and we had taco pizza for dinner. All that wonderful food and all I wanted was taco pizza. Wierd!!

Since June, Brandi and I have both lost 45+ pounds with diet direct. I feel so much better!! Our friend Cara has also been doing this plan and has lost. I'm not sure how much though. She looks great! I have been off-plan for the last month or so and have only gained back about 3 lbs, because my cravings really have changed and I am making wayyyy smarter choices. YAY!!

The kids are doing very well in school this year. Oldest is working at Pizza Ranch and has saved quite a bit of her money. She is better at that than I am for sure!!
Middlest is in middle school now and involved in youth group, band, chorus, and bowling.
Youngest is in the PLUS program and bowling.

I have taken on another county working at WIC and doing the preschool fluorides 3x per school year, so I am basically working fulltime. How the heck did that happen??

My brother and his sons and wife came to Iowa this summer and brought along my mom, so we had a little reunion of sorts. We had a super time and had family pics done together. They turned out really nicely. We all were together along with my dad for some "fake family dinners" It is something that doesn't happen too often, but is quite entertaining. (My parents have been divorced since I was in 3rd grade)
If you are interested in seeing the photos, goto www.memoriesbybrandi.blogspot.com and look at late August.
Well, I am off to fold some more laundry. Happy Fall to all!!!

Puppy Photos

These photos were promised to Tommy yesterday, but alas I am always a day late and a dollar short. (Or several thousand as the case may be) HAHAHA
These are some fun pics with Pinkie.
She seems to be enjoying her new home except for the bath and the dress. The bath is a necessary evil, as she is a digger. The dress was only on long enough for some pics and then promptly removed.
She is doing very well at night. She sleeps through although she is quite an early riser. Fortunately, Oldest and Middlest are also early risers. She loves her Iams food and really adores the treats she earns. She has had some accidents in the house, but she is doing very well overall. Pinkie is interested in Bella, but Bella just wishes she would disappear I'm sure.
One night last week, Bella chased her to the basement, with 3 kids running after them, and had her boxed into a corner. We (the humans) have been waaaay more upset about this dog and cat war than they have. I am hoping and praying that they will end up being friends someday soon.
Pinkie also loves to nap with her sisters.

It's a girl!

Two weeks ago today, we had another baby girl.....A puppy named Pinkie. She is too darling and quite smart. Middlest has been diligently getting up with her at 5:30am every day and taking her for a walk. She also taught her to sit. I think she is 12 weeks old now, but we don't have the exact birthdate. That kind of makes me nuts. We like to celebrate EVERYTHING around here!

That brings our tally up to 5 "daughters" now. Oldest, Middlest, Littlest, Bella the cat, and Pinkie the puppy. YIKES!! I have been so busy it is gross.

Mike has begun traveling a lot again so I am doing it alone. Oldest is the best assistant I could ever ask for though. I am really grateful to have such wonderful kids.

Work has been over the top busy the last 2 months. I always procrastinate and I ended up doing about 20 site visits to preschools and Head Start for their fluoride varnishes at the last minute. I did complete all of the visits and the little darlings got their fluoride. Now, I have an incredible amount of paperwork to do. Government jobs!!

Two weeks ago, on Friday night, we got to have Marley for the night!! That was sooo fun. She is such a sweetheart and so easy going. Only trouble we had with her was that she wanted to sleep too much. Not bad!! She is certainly welcome here anytime. Her mommy is attending cosmetology school and has class Tuesdays - Saturdays, so all of her family and friends are taking turns with Mar on Saturdays. I feel very blessed to be the only non-grandma whom has gotten the little darling for an overnight. I think I have made it pretty clear on this blog and in real life how much I adore Marley!! Her mommy knows she is in excellent hands here.

That Saturday, Littlest had a dance recital and Marley was soo excited to attend. She sat very well on Middlest's lap so her nana could take pics of my acrobat.

Later today, Taylor is graduating from high school and having a lovely party. I am contributing homemade brownies that I tasted earlier this week. They were the best ever! A lot of my friends are cake lovers, so there will probably be a sugar coma going on later. haha

Since summer is coming, I will probably be able to blog more regularly. I hope to do better.
Have a great week.

Good Friday To You

Hello!
I was on the way to work this morning and saw 4 people on a busy intersection holding rather large crosses that stated: "He died for you" I gave the one gentleman that I met eyes with a big smile and a thumbs up!! It got me to thinking...

Middlest decided to join me at work today and actually did a lot of folding dental hygiene instructions and emergency tips and putting them into envelopes. She then stapled papers for me. I really worked her!! She decided to color with my highlighters about 10 minutes before we left to meet Grandpa Dan, Mike, Oldest and Youngest for lunch. We.had a nice lunch and then I went back to work and my dad went off to do whatever it is that happily retired men do. Mike and the three girls went to see the Hannah Montana movie. I am soooo lucky that my girls have such a wonderful daddy that would take them to see such a girly-girl movie that also happens to have Billy Ray Cyrus in it.

We have been trying to split the kids up lately because the constant fighting is driving me to insanity! Tomorrow Littlest is having a friend over and for once in my life I am not going to let Middlest also have a friend over. She isn't thrilled, but she got to come and work in my sweatshop today, so hey... Last weekend between the 2 nights and the 3 girls, we had 5 overnights. Way too much.

On Easter we will be going to an Amish town with excellent German food. My dad will be joining us. He has been treating me to lunch a lot lately due to my financial diet, so we will treat him to a wonderful Easter dinner. It is the same place we went in September for Oldest's 16th birthday. Oldest and I are already starting to salivate. It is our FAVE!!

Happy Easter to everyone.